Official SE5 release date announced - September 12

[Phoenix-D]

Ragnarok-X said:
People, it wont help you naming one bugged game for all 3 years. I was explicitly asking for TOP games.
Top as in 2005/2006 = Civ, Homm, TQ, Sacred, Vampire Bloodlines etc ++.
EVERY game (with a *FEW* exceptions, usually shooters) these days is bugged.

Dude, I could do this all day. All I did was grab some quick examples.

Are you seriously arguing that Mechwarrior 2 and Quake weren't top games? Because they were both bugged. Fallout might not be considered one based on sales, but it is incredibly favored by the players. Also bugged.

X-Com had a fun little bug where it'd give you all flares to defend your base, and a slew of others.

How about Civilization 2? Auto-settlers would hang the system, using help would sometimes crash the game, lockups under high windows resolutions, AI problems, problems scrolling between cities, autobuild issues, unit abilites that didn't work, population that would reset to zero when it got too high, incorrect turn date tracking, sound card related crashes, and more.

Command and Conquer Red Alert: Patched up to version 1.08. Can't access the patch list, but I know 4 player multiplayer was added in a patch.

HOMM:2 - can't find a patch list but a search turns up numerous bug complaints and crashes, including the choice comment from someone playing a port: he played it to level 9, it crashed twice, and he was VERY PLEASED since it was much more stable than the PC version..

Is that enough examples yet? The only reason to claim older games weren't buggy is nostalgia. Yeah, some of the newer ones are worse than some of the older ones, but it works the other way around as well.

[Xrati]

Keep in mind that there is a big difference between a game being released with bugs as compared to a game that has hardware conflicts. With all the vendors out there trying to keep from violating patent laws they are force to "THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX" which forces a patch to attempt a fix. ANY game that has been properly playtested should be relativly free of (large) bugs. There is always going to be someone who'll tinker with a game and find bugs. That's because you just can't determine what everyone will end up doing with a game engine. Those are really the people you'd like to have as playtesters. I guess it's like a version of the ink spots. Everyone will see something different/

I believe that SEV has a good group of playtesters and will be released relativly bug free. When you expand the amount of people that get introduced to the game there will be bugs found and patches made for them. Life goes on!!!

[Ragnarok-X]

Phoenix-D said:

Dude, I could do this all day. All I did was grab some quick examples.

Are you seriously arguing that Mechwarrior 2 and Quake weren't top games? Because they were both bugged. Fallout might not be considered one based on sales, but it is incredibly favored by the players. Also bugged.

X-Com had a fun little bug where it'd give you all flares to defend your base, and a slew of others.

How about Civilization 2? Auto-settlers would hang the system, using help would sometimes crash the game, lockups under high windows resolutions, AI problems, problems scrolling between cities, autobuild issues, unit abilites that didn't work, population that would reset to zero when it got too high, incorrect turn date tracking, sound card related crashes, and more.

Command and Conquer Red Alert: Patched up to version 1.08. Can't access the patch list, but I know 4 player multiplayer was added in a patch.

HOMM:2 - can't find a patch list but a search turns up numerous bug complaints and crashes, including the choice comment from someone playing a port: he played it to level 9, it crashed twice, and he was VERY PLEASED since it was much more stable than the PC version..

Is that enough examples yet? The only reason to claim older games weren't buggy is nostalgia. Yeah, some of the newer ones are worse than some of the older ones, but it works the other way around as well.

You should consider the amount of money involved in this. A current game has a budget *several* times higher than the budget of our all beloved oldies.
All of the bugs you mentioned i cant remember. I have played every game from your list, and i dont remember patching at all, especially not to make a game work at all. Of course they are a few things, like the well known fallout, which had plently of bugs. Then again, it is VERY complex, and open. At that time, the industry was not "perfect" enough for such stuff.
Those days i wasnt even able to patch since i didnt had internet and i believe there were many who hadnt.

Just FYI, the games you mentioned were of the top games, but they werent released within a year. You are merely naming a few blockbusters, released over *several* years. As of now, ***every*** major game is usually bugged, and thats considering the market for computergames has grown by a LOT, and with it, the money involved.


Oh, and just as a sidenote, how comes PC-games are bugged all over, while console games usually (99%) arent ? I tell you why: The developer knows pc games can be patched, while console games cant.
So he takes the RISK of distributing BUGGED software by PURPOSE, because it will mean a win in both time, and logically, money.
Your money, and my money.
I seriously dont understand your point of view. You appear to find it okay to buy broken stuff. If so, would you like buying my car ?

[Renegade 13]

Ragnarok-X said:
Would you buy a car whichs brakes arent working, in mind "oh well they will work in 2 weeks.".
Or maybe "oh well they MAY work in 2 weeks" ?

There is no way to argue about that.

Big problem with your analogy; vehicles are required to be as "bug-free" as humanly possible because your safety (and life) depend on it! Your life won't hang in the balance if a game has a few bugs, it will if your car does Comparing the auto industry with the PC Gaming industry is like comparing a White Dwarf star to a supernova

[Ragnarok-X]

Oh well, i have some more arguments at hand but i feel i will be misunderstood because of wrong grammar and/or wording.

At any rate, if you think its okay to buy games or stuff in general which is broken, do so. I simply wont, easy as it is.
And, even considering the amount of critism i got, i cant understand your point of view at all. You are spending your money for stuff that is mostly not working and you think thats fine ? weird.

Anyways, one more thing. You all like the point "oi so many systems, its very hard to make a game bug free".

But you obviously oversee i was clearly referring to GAME bugs, bugs within the code who have absolutly *NO* reference to a system setup. You like the bugs of Civ2 ? Fine, those are GAMEPLAY bugs, within the game, with absolutly no corespondence to a potential different setup.
That also negates the point of "consoles are always the same", because even if they are its not important since the bugs i am talking about are created not by graphical issues (which is usually the problem with hardware-based bugs) but gameplay bugs.
And, once again, these days almost every major game is retailed, with a patch or several patches following close after. Face it: The customer is being played with.,

Renegade: The reason i chose car vs game is easy. Because of the money. For the standart 16 year old guy a game is pretty expensive, as is a car for a 30 year old guy. I can as well just take a flat screen tv, that pair of inliners or potentially even your new mobile phones with loads of functions.
The gaming industry was a niche market years ago, but is more and more moving towards the mainstream. With this, the amount of money involved grows (Ubisoft, 60% more gain this year, anyone?), and so the Industry more and more moves towards "we want easy money, lets arse the customer", just like every other major player.

[Dizzy]

Well, I can tell you right now it wont sell into that crossover crowd if thats the way the box art looks. It's completely stupid! No one's gonna buy that lizard in a monk robe game!

They shoulda put a hot terran chick with tits and a space ship on the front. Tits and space ships sell. Lizards in monk robes dont.

[dogscoff]

They shoulda put a hot terran chick with tits and a space ship on the front. Tits and space ships sell. Lizards in monk robes dont.

Dizzy wins the "tell it like it is prize." This week's prize is a spaceship. With tits.

[Caduceus]

dogscoff said:
Dizzy wins the "tell it like it is prize." This week's prize is a spaceship. With tits.

Reminds me a bit of this comic .

[StarJack]

Like a lot of folks I've been waiting on this on a long time. Here's hoping the coding is better than the game box graphics!

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Indubitally. Or something.